


Doesn’t Matter Anyway

by Lostforwords



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Flirting, Keith wears jewelry, Langst, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, PINING KEITH, Pining, keith POV but mostly about lance, keith learns to be observant, pining lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 16:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12939072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lostforwords/pseuds/Lostforwords
Summary: When Keith starts to really pay attention to Lance, he realizes that the blue paladin is more than just a lovable goofball. He wonders how he could’ve missed just how much Lance needed someone to see him.





	1. I know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, my first real fic. This’ll be a doozy. This is super self indulgent. Lance is just so easy to project onto.

The sounds of the planet Zorand were, in Keith's opinion, startlingly similar to the sounds of earth. The people were all abuzz in the marketplace where Coran had taken the paladins. They'd split up and agreed to meet by the medicinal stands in an hour. Keith didn't stray too far from there. He had little interest in trinkets from the planets they visited. Most things were unhelpful to Keith and he didn't like the way a sentimental item would connect him to a planet. What if Voltron failed them in the future? He didn't want the reminder of who they were. The guilt would be enough without a personal connection.

Despite his hesitance, he doesn't want to stand there looking at sparkly medicinal goops for an hour, so he glances around for something useful. To the left of the little wooden med booth, the stands look fairly similar. Brown, black, and white wooden stands with salts, creams, and elixirs in glass jars crowding the surface area. Keith opted to go right. Even if he didn't find anything of use, the glittering golden and silver stands would be more interesting to look at.

Most contained shiny trinkets and things that Keith didn't recognize. He happened upon a sleek black stand that held various types of jewelry. Most were huge and wild and colorful with gems here and clasps there. Brightly colored necklaces and rings the size of a baby's fist were scattered about the tabletop. But amongst the chaos Keith saw a few understated items that appealed to him.

He didn't want to get anything. He really didn't. He wanted to distance himself from these planets as much as he could. Don't think of a planet as a home. Don't think of anyone as permanent. Don't give yourself a reason to feel worse if you fail. But even looking was affecting him. It was getting harder for him to see Zorand as a pit stop instead of a civilization. Maybe he could get something small and it would be okay. It didn't mean he was getting attached to Zorand or its people. Just that he found something nice. So he took out some of the money Coran had doled out and bought something. He stuffed the proof of his weakness in his pockets and hoped it was subtle enough where no one would notice.

By the time Keith returned to the med booth, Lance was already back. He held a basket full of various salts and serums. He was talking to the girl running one of the stands. Keith frowned and walked closer. Lance was smirking at her and as Keith neared, he heard exactly what he expected to hear.

"But surely a pretty thing like you has a favorite." Lance crooned. The girl just rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to buy something, or are you just going to stand there acting stupid? I don't have time to let people make fools of themselves. It drives away paying customers." She sneers at him and he visibly recoils.

"Alright, I get it. No need to be rude. I really did want that color corrector."

Even though he was very civil with the girl, Keith could clearly see the flashes of emotion on his face. Hurt, then frustration, then...something Keith couldn't place. Whatever it was, it didn't look pleasant.

Whatever. If Lance insists upon running around throwing himself at anything that breathes, he can handle the consequences.

That's not Keith's problem.

"You okay there, Keith?" A concerned voice inquires. "You look a little murderous."

"I'm fine, Hunk, thanks." Keith says. "I just wish we could go to one planet without Lance trying to seduce everything he comes in contact with."

"Oh?" Hunk gives Keith a look that he doesn't feel like deciphering.

And that was the moment that Lance decided to ruin the comfortable atmosphere.

"Hunk, my angel, my savior, my soulmate, my anchor, I've been wronged and you have to defend my honor." Lance feigns being stabbed and falls against Hunk, almost knocking a blue vegetable shaped like an X and a jar of some pink spice out of Hunk's basket.

"What? Who hurt you? I'll show them--" Hunk started.

"What's going on?" Shiro asked as he and Pidge joined the group.

"Lance flirted at another alien girl." Keith supplied.

"Did it work?" Pidge asked, not looking up from her basket of wires and gadget pieces.

"Alas, Pidgey, she turned out to be a cruel and hateful mistress." Lance said, sighing with his entire body.

"You can tell us all about it when we get back to the castle." Shiro says. "It's getting late and the Princess said this place isn't so friendly at night."

As they turned to leave, Keith heard Lance mumble something about it not being friendly during the day

\-----

"I'm telling you, Hunk, she was gorgeous!” Lance flopped onto the couch beside Hunk. “I thought for sure she’d fall for my dazzling looks and overwhelming charm.”

Keith bristled, taking a seat across from the pair. Why did he have to obsess over alien girls that wouldn’t even give him the time of day? It didn’t make sense.

“She must be crazy, buddy,” Hunk said. “You’re very charming.”

“That’s one word for it.” Keith joked. He hoped he could rile Lance up to distract him from the girl, but instead he just frowned in silence.

“What did you end up getting? You basket looked pretty full.” Hunk said, nudging Lance a bit.

“Just restocked my self care products!” Lance responded with a small smile. “Gotta keep this face glowing for the ladies and gentlemen of space. Even the rude ones.”

“Hey Hunk?” Pidge cut in from the hallway. “I need your advice on this new program I’m trying to code. Can you come take a look and brainstorm with me?”

Hunk glanced at Lance, who was already pushing him up. “Go, silly, make the universe a smarter and more efficient place! If anyone can do it, it’s Pidgeon and the Hunkster!”

“I’ll go on the condition that you never call me that again.” Hunk laughed as he stood.

“The price I pay for the good of the universe.” Lance sighed. “Take note, Keith, that I sacrifice much for the cause.”

“I don’t know how you do it.” Keith deadpanned as Hunk and Pidge disappeared into the hall.

“Only someone as naturally strong and brave as I could possibly withstand it.” He said. “I already suffered much today.”

“Are you still on about that girl?” Keith scowled. They only spoke for a minute or two, how could he possibly be this hung up on her?

“What can I say, Keithy boy? The heart wants what the heart wants!” Lance laughed, but for some reason Keith thought it felt...empty. He hated it.

“Why do you insist upon throwing yourself at every girl you see?” Keith started, hoping again to distract Lance from his sorrow through bickering. “It’s not like you could have a real relationship with them, and no one ever responds well anyway, so it doesn’t even matter!”

But Lance did not bicker. He didn’t even try to defend himself. He just sat on the couch in silence for a few seconds with a small sad smile on his face. He didn’t look at Keith. He didn’t raise his voice. He just sat there. And eventually he spoke.

“I know.”

And then he stood and walked off to his room.

Keith wanted to stop him. He wanted to say that it didn’t have to be that way. But instead he let him walk off, and those two words reverberated in his head the rest of the night.

_I know._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a lot of fun to write. I should have another chapter up within a week. I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!


	2. Do You See a Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith starts watching Lance and noticing thing about him. Like his ability to soothe even the most stressed out little green paladin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m having such a good time writing this that I got it done early! The chapters are kinda short, but I like it snappy like that. 
> 
> You can follow my tumblr @/lance-mcfreakin-McClain for other people’s klance content and my ranting or updates I guess.

_I know._

Every time Keith saw or thought of Lance (which was a lot), those words echoed in his head. He’d never thought of Lance as a somber person. Not to say that he didn’t think Lance could be serious. He had a lot of respect for Lance and had seen firsthand how good he was with his gun and even as a pilot, though he’d never admit that to Lance.

But Keith had never seen him as somber, with his loud mannerisms and cocky attitude. Lance was bright and made the people around him feel comfortable. He was not supposed to be silent, with a forlorn look in his eyes the way he’d been the other night. That wasn’t how Lance should be. Keith decided he did not like it at all, and took it upon himself to do everything he could to keep Lance from looking like that again.

In order to keep his goal, Keith had to learn a little more about Lance. He sort of knew him in the way that he knew all the paladins. He saw him every day, worked with him, and listened when he spoke (which was a lot, but Keith wasn’t complaining). But for this he had to know more, so from this moment on, he would watch Lance.

Not in a creepy way (he hoped). He’d just...observe.

Observe things like the way Lance was always the last to breakfast even though Keith could hear him awake and moving when he passed his room on the way to the training deck every morning.

And the way Lance put the most effort into being loud and obnoxious after a hard mission, but he was surprisingly quiet and supportive when someone on the team was struggling.

Like today.

Pidge was hunched over her laptop. She’d been like that for three days straight. She’d barely slept or eaten. Everyone had tried to pry her away but it wasn’t working. Hunk made her a special dinner, but it went untouched. Shiro tried to confiscate the laptop, but when he picked it up, she wrestled him for it. He would’ve won if she hadn’t bit him. Allura shut off the castles WiFi equivalent, but Pidge just made her own. No one knew what to do.

Until Lance came along.

Everyone was in the doorway to the main living area where Pidge sat on the couch, typing away, bags under her eyes, greasy hair sticking up all over the place.

“What can we even do?” Hunk asked. “We can’t lure her away, we can’t do it by force. What else could we try?”

Lance walked right past the group and sat on the couch next to Pidge.

“Whatcha got there pidgey?” He asked.

“You wouldn’t understand.” She snapped. “Don’t distract me.”

“Maybe I don’t get your weird techy stuff, but I could help in other ways.” He said. “I could provide a fresh perspective!”

“Those are big words, Lance, do you know what they mean?” She sneered.

Hurt and annoyance flashed across his face, but they were gone as soon as they came. He pushed her head lightly and kept going. “Come on, just tell me what you’re doing.”

Pidge sighed but gave in, too exhausted to fight with him. “I’m searching every open communication frequency I can find for mentions of “human”, “boy”, or anything else that could be connected to Matt. I’m trying to initiate a program to filter through it for me, but I made a mistake somewhere in my code and I can’t find it. So instead I’m dividing my attention between looking for my mistake and keeping an eye on these messages.”

“That seems like a lot to focus on at once,” Lance said. “Why don’t you get some rest and start fresh tomorrow?”

“I don’t have time for that!” She snaps. “I’m going to miss it if I look away and I have to find him now!” Her eyes began to tear up, but she didn’t cry.

“Hey,” He said, running his hand through her hair. “I know you miss him. I miss my siblings too. But you’re not going to find him if you’re hallucinating.”

“I have to find him now, Lance! I don’t want to miss it.”

“Miss what?”

Pidge was silent for a few seconds. “His birthday.” She said. “Tomorrow is his birthday.”

“I see,” Lance said, still stroking her hair. “Do you have any special birthday traditions?”

“On our birthdays, Mom makes us waffles for breakfast, and our favorite meal for dinner. Matt’s is pizza rustica. We all make the birthday cake together, and make a pillow fort in the living room so we can all fall asleep together during a movie marathon. Birthday kid’s choice, obviously.” She starts to smile, and leaned into Lance’s shoulder. “He always picked the Harry Potter movies, and we’d just quote the whole series instead of watching. Mom and Dad would fall asleep around Goblet of Fire, but Matt and I would make it a contest to see who could stay up longer. He always fell asleep about twenty minutes into Half Blood Prince, and I’d make it through the whole series. But sometimes if he was feeling particularly determined to beat me I’d tell him I fell asleep and didn’t know who won. He’d light up.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun, pidgeon.” Lance said. “I bet he’s thinking about that Potter marathon right now.”

But Pidge was already asleep in Lance’s arms. He gestured to the group in the doorway that was still watching in awe. He pointed to the computer sitting in the sleeping Pidge’s lap and Keith shook himself out of his trance to go pick up the laptop.

When it was in Keith’s hands, Lance picked Pidge up and carried her down toward her room. Keith set the laptop on a table (open, so as not to disturb her program) and followed Lance. When they got to Pidge’s door, Keith opened it for Lance. He laid her gently on the bed and tucked her in, placing her glasses on the nightstand next to her. They left her to rest.

“How did you do that? It was incredible.” Keith said.

“I’m good at leading people to the answers they need. I had to do it with my siblings a lot, and there were some...other people back on earth that needed me.” Lance looked sad, worried, and hopeful all at the same time. Keith didn’t know a person could do that. “Well, now that we finally got pidgey some rest, we should all take our own advice! I’ll see you tomorrow, mullet.”

Lance walked down the hall to his own room. Keith needed to think. He headed to the training deck.

Keith took a moment to stretch. How was Lance able to just let Pidge talk herself to sleep? How could he possibly have known exactly what to say? Keith set the gladiator to level three. It rushed him and he parried. Maybe it was because Lance had siblings, but didn’t Hunk have siblings too? Lots of people had siblings! Lots of people couldn’t do what Lance just did. Keith ducked and rolled as the gladiator swung at him, but he never lost balance, and sliced its arm off before rolling out of the other arm’s way. And what did Lance mean by “other people” on earth that needed him? Why did those other people make him look so sad? Keith sliced the gladiator in half and stood panting. This was getting him nowhere. He decided he’d rather have a distraction instead.

“Gladiator level five.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love our pidgeon. The Holt family is Italian and I’m Italian so I wanna slip some of my knowledge and history in there. Also, I keep adding things about myself to Lance’s character. I gotta save some stuff for future fics! 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Your comments fuel my desire to write so keep ‘em coming! Thank you for reading!


End file.
